But after a couple of seasons jostling with David de Gea, who was signed as Van der Sar's long-term successor from Atletico Madrid a year after Lindegaard's arrival, Lindegaard has eventually found himself out of favour.

He initially shared status as United's first choice goalkeeper at the beginning of last season, continually alternating with De Gea, and renewed his £40,000-per-week contract in August 2012.

But he last made a Premier League appearance in a 4-3 victory at Reading on December 1 of last year, in which he was partly at fault for two goals conceded from corners.

De Gea has since established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in England and David Moyes, who replaced Sir Alex Ferguson as United manager in May, has given Lindegaard just one run out so far this term, the 4-0 Capital One Cup victory against Norwich.

Goal has learned that a number of Serie A clubs have been in contact with Manchester United about the availability of their No.2 goalkeeper, but no concrete bids have been forthcoming.

Both Juventus and Milan are understood to have been offered the 29-year-old in recent months, but the clubs declined to make an approach for the United man.

The Premier League champions, for their part, would be looking to receive between £4-5 million for the former Aalesund man, who cost £3.5m three years ago.

As well as struggling to overhaul De Gea, Lindegaard has also faced problems with his own fitness and was unavailable for selection for four matches in September.

He has previously bemoaned his luck with injuries and revealed back in March that he missed "the thrill of playing and the adrenaline you get when you step out on the pitch".